Television

Thursday, 26 July 2018

Vu and John on W♥M Radio, talking about Minnesota Fan Fest (19-20 Aug 2017). The event at Rivercentre in St Paul will feature celebrity guests Jason David Frank from Power
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Minnesota Fan Fusion (previously known as Minnesota Fan Fest) is coming up on August 3-5, 2018.
The event is, once again, held at the Rivercentre in downtown St. Paul. Everything is an upgrade from last year, including adding another day (Friday), and doubling all their guests.

The main attractions are the film & television celebrities, but, personally speaking, we really enjoy sitting and listening to fans talk about their passion on these panels-heavy shows. In fact, they’ve double-down and the panels have expanded to four times from last year!

For comic book television fans, they should be happy to see
The Walking Dead’s Laurie Holden and Flash’s
Danielle Panabaker. Although people will know Panabaker as Killer Frost, she was brilliant in the Sci-Fi Time Lapse 2014 film.
Lord of the Rings (and video game fans) should be happy to see that John Rhys-Davies will also be here.

There are also plenty of comic book artists and writers in attendance. Too many to mention, but just quickly looking over the list, we see a few favorites: Howard Chaykin (Blackhawks and American Flagg), Greg Land (Sojourn and The Ultimate Fantastic Four), Jae Lee (Hellshock and The Inhumans), Kevin Nowlan (a unique style on Tomorrow Stories with the great Alan Moore), and Rick Leonardi (Cloak & Dagger). Please note that cheesecake artist Frank Cho has cancelled his appearance.

I’ve been a fan of the X-Files since it originally aired in 1993. I remember watching it the night before and talking about it with my school friends in Junior High School. At that time, we didn’t have anything quite like the X-Files and it became a big hit.

I was a fan, and watched it even after Agent Mulder (David Duchovny) left the series. I collected the Topps’ X-Files comics for many years, various books & magazines, the original VHS 12 episodes and bought the original DVD boxsets.

The series remained dead until 2016, when Fox resurrected the series with Season X (10). I was excited, but quickly realized it wasn’t very good after watching the first two episodes. I haven’t written after Season X ended, but I can tell you that I hated it.

It was so bad, that I was in the middle of upgrading all my X-Files DVD to Bluray, but I had to stop because Season X left such a sour taste in my mouth.

Now that the first two episodes of Season 11 have aired, I can tell you that it’s truly terrible. It kills me, because I’m such a fan and I want it to be good.

Fox Mulder himself, David Duchovny will be releasing his second album Every Third Thought on February 9th via King Baby/GMG. There is no album artwork at the moment, but the record is done with complete track listing below.

You can currently pre-order the album with extra bonuses, like signed test pressing on Pledgemusic.com.

Be sure to catch Duchovny live on tour in Australia and New Zealand this February. Be on the lookout for a U.S. tour, to be announced soon.

Brooklyn duo Sharkmuffin (Tarra Thiessen and Natalie Kirch) released their song “Scully is a Sharkmuffin” earlier this Summer.

The band explained the title:

“’Scully is a Sharkmuffin’ is our ode to The X-Files. It’s the only track on Tsuki that is mostly improvised and was recorded live. The lyrics are taken from The X-Files opening theme: ‘The truth is out there. I want to believe. The government lies.’”

“As expected with a band with a debut record, the band played plenty of tracks from Chartreuse (State Capital/Little Dickman Records)... including ‘First Date’, which Tarra described as a song written about Tinder.”

The new X-Files Comics collected trade called
The X-Files Vol. 4: Resistance is out now (released January 10th) via IDW Publishing.

IDW got the rights to the X-Files after Topps exited the comic publishing business. In 2013, IDW started publishing The X-Files’ “Season 10”. The series ended with #25 in 2015.
The recently-released trade collects issues #14-17.

Details:

The mystery and intrigue continue with the latest from the comic series! Scully receives an invitation from Firas Ben-Brahim after months of silence, and she soon discovers the dark secrets he's been keeping from her. Once the final piece of the puzzle falls into place, it threatens to send Mulder over the line, just as shadowy forces are revealed to have compromised the upper echelons of government. Collects issues #14–17

Wednesday, 27 December 2017

The ever-growing Marvel Comics Universe comes to life in the form of Feld Entertainment’s production of Marvel Universe LIVE! Age of Heroes and we were there to
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Here is a breakdown of some recent comic book-related debut television shows. While DC has a strong lineup with their CW shows (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow), it looks like Marvel is hitting back strong with a ton of Marvel-related shows (with the exception of Happy!).

I did enjoy The Punisher quite a bit, which was a win, considering that I thought Iron Fist and The Defenders were lackluster. Ever since The Punisher appeared on Daredevil, I knew he would spin off in his own series… and I was right.

I’ve always liked the Punisher, ever since that amazing limited Steven Grant and Mike Zeck mini-series in 1986 (can it really be over 30 years old?) and followed his stories in his ongoing series, plus his War Journal and War Zone, I ate all of it up. I love it so much, that even though I own all these books on the original single issues (and some collected books), I still bought some Punisher books on the recent Comixology year-end sale.

Since I feel like I know The Punisher really well, I had a very hard time accepting Jon Bernthal’s southern accent as part of this TV Punisher. It just sound wrong, and it would automatically rule out any storyline where the Punisher had to go undercover as an Italian mobster. I guess I must be the only person in the world that didn’t really like Bernthal’s portrayal of the Punisher.

If you were to ask me, I really love Ray Stevenson’s The Punisher, but unfortunately, I don’t think anyone remotely liked Punisher: War Zone (my favorite of the three Punisher films).

Despite my not liking Bernthal, the Netflix show was actually really engaging. It kept me interested, but there were a few episodes that I thought could have been shortened, and like all the Neflix shows, maybe 13 episodes were just too long.

I love Grant Morrison (I am a huge fan of Doom Patrol, Invisibles, and JLA), but kind of gave up on him after his Batman R.I.P. series, which I did think I lost the plot after a few issues. This television show is based on Morrison and Darick Robertson’s graphic novel of the same name.

So watching the show is really the first time I’m experiencing the story, which, at the moment, is really fun. The problem in all the silliness of Happy is that, at any given point, do I feel like our character is in mortal danger.

I actually got really confused with The Gifted vs The Runaways. I think both shows had super powered kids running away… but between the two shows, I’m more keen on The Gifted.

The show started off strong, with The Sentinels, and featured genre actors like Stephen Moyer and Amy Acker. These parents are doing everything in their power (excuse the pun) to save their mutant children.

Bonus appearances of familiar X-Mutants like Sunspot and Polaris help sells the show to me.

Admittedly, the show has not kept my interest, and I may be a few episodes behind.

I never read the comic book series, but I’ve always thought the kids in The Runaways were mutants. I guess I am wrong, they’re just kids with superpowers. I tried out a few episodes, it’s really not my thing. I guess I’m just too old to understand these group of kids. Unlike The Gifted, you never get to see the parents in the Runaways (at least in the first few episodes).

I really wanted to like it, but unfortunately, I just didn’t like any of the kids… well, maybe except for the girl with the pet dinosaur.

So far, 8 out of 10 episodes just aired, but I stopped watching the show with episode 5. Maybe next Saturday I will try and catch up.

Also, the other problem is that you pay $7.99 a month, but you still get advertisements.

I had really high hopes for the live The Inhumans, but the series turned out to be a dud. I did not love the over-acting of Anson Mount as Black Bolt… but it’s understandable since his character cannot (or should not) speak.

The most striking thing about the Inhumans would be Medusa’s animated hair… yet the series cut it off at the beginning. Karnak, possibly the most dangerous inhuman weapon (he can see the weakness in everything) is taken out easily.

After giving three episodes, I gave up on the television show. It wasn’t the Inhumans that I wanted.

Thursday, 26 January 2017

"Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" is the hit song that put Kenny Rogers on the music map. His band was called The First Edition but was quickly replaced
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After resisting the television show Mr Robot on USA Network, I gave in and watched the first season. It was pretty good, it did remind me of plot from Fight Club... and despite figuring out the “twist” midway into the first season, it was still quite enjoyable.

I recently picked up Season 2 on Bluray, mostly because I had extra cash from the holidays and really wanted to get that Mr Robot patch, exclusive on Best Buy editions.

If you love the show, you might want to check out the original orchestral soundtrack by Mac Quayle.

Anyway, while I’m waiting for Season 3, I have started watching Season 2 again... this time with all the spoiler knowledge, and paid more attention to the music in the show. I knew most of the popular songs they used on Mr Robot, but there were a few (like that Japanese trashcore band Bleach) that I didn’t know, and, of course, none of the music were actually credit in the TV show!

So, if you’re like me and wanted to know all the songs they used in Mr Robot, I have compile the list, thanks to imdb.com:

S02E01: eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc

Lupe Fiasco: Daydreamin'

Emmacy: Beneath the Flowers

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492: Overture

S02E02: eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc

Phil Collins: Take Me Home

Vernon Dalhart and Gladys Rice: Till We Meet Again (standard)

Glitterbitch: Game Set Match

The Midi Mafia: You Like Me (feat. Mucho Deniro)

Sonic Youth: Bull in the Heather

I MONSTER: Daydream In Blue

Michael Small Commission and Main Title

S02E03: eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd

Dusty Springfield: You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (Elvis Presley cover)

So, I previously poo-poo the Roku because it did not support YouTube. You know, the most popular video service in the world and Roku just didn't work with it? It's sad and lame, in my opinion. ....

I recently upgraded my television to a Samsung 4k (UHD). It's only 40-inch, but it's big enough for me (especially for the sale price). My current first-gen PS4 isn't powerful enough for 4k (or wasn't really design to output at that resolution), and, at of this writing, only the Xbox One S and the new PS4 Pro offers 4k support. Unfortunately, I'm not going to re-buy a PS4 and I'm patiently waiting for the Xbox One Scorpio... so I can't just buy the current Xbox (although I really want to get it it now).

The 4k problem is actually the lack of content. Streaming 4k is not a great option, because my internet cannot handle streaming it. Downloading it takes forever... and not to mention the sheer takes up too much valuable disc space on my harddrive. 4k discs are being sold, but are limited to certain popular titles and at an extra cost. Discs are priced at usually at $30, which is $10+ more than Bluray discs. Plus, unless you got an Xbox One S, 4k disc players is an added $150 or more extra cost.

Basically, it's a chicken and egg problem, but eventually 4k is the future. For collectors, the steelbooks and special packaging are only available on Bluray, so they're not migrating any time soon.

So why would you want a 4k TV? Let me break it down to you: the image quality is much better than a standard 1080 screen. It's not just my imagination, because the pixels look smoother/sharper because the image is upscale on the same display size. The smaller the dots, the better it looks... but only if you have really good 20/20 vision (or look closely at the display).

The other cool thing about my Samsung set is that it comes with apps, so if you're watching TV, you can click on the extra icon to see the latest weather or play minesweeper, etc. Although you can install apps directly on the TV, the Samsung App store is severely limited.

My only 4k streaming box options right now are: Roku 4, Chromecast Ultra, Nvidia Shield, or the Mi Box. Having own the Roku 2, I was not impressed with its inability to turn off or that it does not support multiple audio or even something simple as subtitle support.

As for the Chromecast, you basically need an Android Phone (which I currently don't own), and the Nvidia Shield is just too expensive ($200 for the base model and the remote is an extra $50, and the stand is $30)..... so that left me with my only choice: The Mi Box. If you aren't familiar with the Mi Box, it's a $69 Android TV box sold by Chinese company Xiaomi.

When you get the Mi Box, I suggest getting the Kodi app (formerly known as XBMC) so you can stream your local DNLA or add streaming video playlists. Kodi is really just the best app, I've used it on various platform. It will play everything, and it does multiple audio and multiple subtitles. It's really the only video player you need.

Some things I do not like about the Mi Box:

Power cord is not very long and seemingly exclusive to Mi Box (meaning you can’t just swap it out for another longer cable).

Limited to only Android TV selections (this is a Google limitation)

Voice search is not very good (again, this is a Google limitation)

Chromecast did not really work for me on some applications I tried.

No Apple Mirror (this is an Apple restriction/DRM issue)

One USB, no SD card reader

Some things I love about the Mi Box:

Has all the Apps I like: Haystack, Pluto TV, Kodi, etc.

Game option with the Mi Controller (may buy one if I find it in stores)

Sunday, 11 December 2016

So mc chris has an excellent new album out. It's called mc chris is dead, so go buy it, quickly now! But first, have a listen. I picked 2 of my favorite songs to share with you guys.
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Vu and John takes a look back in this year in comic book/superheroe movies.

We’ve been tracking this phenomenon of comic book movies, and there’s no doubt that 2016 is the Golden Age of Comic Book Movies! With about 8 films, not counting documentaries, etc., released in theaters this year, it is kind of saturated with superheroes films.

The evening started with a brief 25-min set by The Chris Stamey Group, headed by, who else, Chris Stamey (famous for forming The Db's with Peter Holsapple).
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Television was formed in 1973 in New York City by Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell, Billy Ficca and Richard Lloyd. They began in 1972 as the Neon Boys, but changed their name to Television the following year.

They made their live debut at Townhouse Theatre, New York, NY in 1974.

Television was one of the first bands to play legendary music club CBGB in New York’s East Village.

On their official Facebook page, the band identifies with three musical genres: post- punk, new wave & rock.

Some of the band’s influences include The Rolling Stones and jazz icon Miles Davis. Television’s musical style is less bluesy and more about garage rock and jazz. One of their trademarks is their tendency toward lengthy guitar jams between lead and rhythm guitar.

In 1975, Television’s demo was turned down by Island Records, but the band was undeterred. They released the single “Little Johnny Jewel” on their own label- Ork- and the song became an underground hit. They signed with Elektra Records in 1976 and their debut album, Marquee Moon, was released in 1977.

Television broke up not long after the release of their sophomore album, Adventure (1978) to pursue solo careers or to join other bands.

Television briefly re-formed in 1991, signed with Capitol Records and released their third studio album, Television (1992).

Television disbanded once again in 1993, but the band continues to play together on and off.

Television provided inspiration for guitar-based post-punk bands of the late 70s and 80s, synth pop bands of the 80s and indie rock bands of the 90s.

On September 10, 2016, Television will play the Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA. A whole lot of people in Athens- a town known for its own collection of seminal bands, many of whom credit Television as an influence- are eagerly anticipating this show. Tickets are available through the Georgia Theatre’s website: georgiatheatre.com.

Chris Stamey (Alex Chilton, Sneakers, the dB’s) will open for Television.

Fans eagerly anticipate the as-yet-to-be-determined release of Television’s latest- a ‘secret’ album, recorded in 2007 and awaiting the finishing touches of vocals and mixing. We are told we can expect to hear many of these new tracks live at the show.

Monday, 25 January 2016

I finally got around to watching Jon Schnepp's The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? documentary on what happened to the film "Superman Lives". The doomed film would have been directed by Tim Burton …

Friday was the first full day of Wizard World Chicago Comic Con, held at the Donald J. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL, just outside Chicago, and there were plenty of onsite activities to keep busy. …

Interested in getting your hands on the Justice League: Gods & Monsters Soundtrack? The CD will be out August 11, 2015, and is limited to only 1,000 units. It is exclusively available only at La-La Land Records. …

As a former hardcore comic book collector (currently I am still buying some random flimsies and will still buy hardcovers), I am pretty excited about all these comic book super heroes coming to the silver screen and television.

In the past few years, Marvel Comics has been enjoying its success with Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Guardian of the Galaxy, Thor, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Daredevil (TV), Jessica Jones (TV). DC Comics, on the other hand, had nothing but failures, including The Losers, Jonah Hex, Green Lantern, The Dark Knight Rises (the worst of the Nolan films), and the terrible Man of Steel film.

DC's last film was the space-invader Superman film in 2013, and after a three year break, DC is finally getting their act together with some exciting announcements:
Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad (with Wonder Woman and Aquaman sometime in 2017).

I really hate the title Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I can understand it, it tells us that Batman will be fighting Superman... and somehow it involves the Justice League. Based on the first trailer of the film, like so many other fans, I have come up with the storyline: Lex Luther introduced Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne. They later duke it out. Then they have to team up to fight Doomsday... but is saved by Wonder Woman. I hope there's more to it than that... and since it's directed by Zack Snyder, I'm sure it'll look great.

We already know that Snyder is a big Frank Miller fan, having directed 300, so I'm assuming Snyder will also be paying homage to Miller's work from his The Dark Night Returns 1986 work (featuring an aging Batman fighting Superman). The Dark Night Returns, along with Miller's Batman: Year One, is possibly the most influential Batman story. With some other titles, including Alan Moore's Watchmen (which Snyder also adapted and directed), The Dark Knight help launched the so-called "grim and gritty" era that followed it.

I just hope that these upcoming films won't be so 'dark and gritty', but all evidence (including Man of Steel) kind of point us in that direction.

FallCon 2013 just took place on Saturday, October 5th. The turnout to this 25-year-old comic book convention was impressive, despite that FallCon for this year, was the smaller of the two cons (its sibling SpringCon …

I am super-excited for this upcoming Suicide Squad film. Everyone is talking about how great the new Joker looks, but the obvious standout is clearly Harley Quinn, who is the comedy relief of the picture.

If you didn't know or follow the comic book, the current version of the group first appeared is at the end of John Ostrander and John Byrne's Legends cross-over limited series that introduced the (then) new Justice League in 1987. I remember attending a comic book convention and we asked why a vendor was selling Legends #7 for $75 and he told us it was because of Suicide Squad. We couldn't believe it.

Since newer fans may not know who is actually in Suicide Squad, here is a list of characters:

Amanda Waller: Portrayed in the comic book as an overweight and very rude black woman. I didn't follow Checkmate! that closely, but I believe she's also in charge of that division of the government.

Rick Flag: A military officer, team leader of "Task Force X" (aka Suicide Squad). Apparently Tom Hardy was originally cast for this role.

Katana: She's in this film as part of Flag's crew, she's a hero from her days with Batman and the Outsiders.

Deadshot: A Batman villain and assassin, known for his expert marksman. I have often confused him with Deathstroke and Deadpool.

Captain Boomerang: An Australian villain from The Flash comics. He kills people with deadly boomerangs... not really sure why he's all that deadly.

El Diablo: I don't keep up with the current DC's 52, but this villain has pyrotechnic abilities.

Killer Croc: A Batman villain, this half-man, half-crocodile is the strongman of the group.

Harley Quinn: One of the few characters that did not come from comic books. Her origin is from Batman: The Animated Series. She's come a long way from being the Joker's sidekick to a true fan favorite.

Enchantress: A very different look on the character from her comic book appearance (green hat, etc). Based on the trailer, it seems she can control men.

The Joker: He is actually not in the Suicide Squad team, but the trailers seems to show that he has a big role in the film. I'm assuming he's the villain, or at least has a part in the big threat of the film.

With TNT recently decided to pass onTeen Titans the TV show, we're left with only CBS' Supergirl (which debut in November 2015) and this 2016 show called Legends of Tomorrow.

I just saw the Legends pilot episode, and it is pretty good... although I suspect I will eventually stop watching the show, as I have dropped Arrow and The Flash. Legends suffers from all The CW programming: melodramatic acting, "teenish" editing, and boring storyline.

There are big stars in this series, including Prison Breakers Dominic Purcell (Heat Wave) with Wentworth Miller (Captain Cold), and Superman returner Brandon Routh (Atom). The large cast of characters and villains might be problem for new fans, as you need a "who's who" guide to tell you what is going on. Hopefully, with so many characters, the writers won't have a problem writing a compelling story spotlighting and building up these characters.

Who's Who:

Rip Hunter: A time traveler, from Jack Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown. Later in the 90s, he got his own series called Time Masters, however the 1991 series Challengers of the Unknown left out Hunter.

Firestorm: I'm familiar with the original Nuclear Man, featuring a white "jock" and a professor. The new Firestorm swap out the white jock for a black one, but the concept is still the same: youth stupidity and seasoned smarts of a learned professor. Personally speaking, I think Firestorm is visually the coolest superhero.

Atom: Like Marvel's Ant Man, the Atom's new origin has a similar story: he's the inventor of a power-suit capable of shrinking down to the size of an atom.

White Canary: Basically the same character as Black Canary (who often teamed up with Green Arrow). Based on the explanation in the pilot, she was paying tribute to Black Canary (obviously I didn't keep up with the Arrow series).

Hawkman / Hawkgirl: Ask anyone who follow the Hawkman/Hawkgirl timeline, it is a mess. A few years ago, Geoff Johns tried to unify their origin by explaining that they reincarnations of ancient Egypt (which I feel still doesn't explain the Hawkmen of Planet Thanagar). Still this series follow the current Hawkman reincarnation story.

Heat Wave / Captain Cold: The two villains in this heroes-group, both are Flash villains. No one (including the fans) knows why they are part of the group... only perhaps I have jokingly said that they needed a job, and this is a good fit for them.

Vandal Savage: The immortal is the villain of the series. Personally speaking, I don't really understand why he is such a threat. Outside of being immortal, he doesn't really have any other super powers. Even his nemesis (?) Resurrection Man is able to come back to life with the powers that killed him. Savage, on the other hand, is just amassing power and weapons throughout history. I really don't think Savage is all that scary.

Supernatural: This show is breaking my heart because I love the first season. I wish they would go back to just being hunters, fighting "evil of the week" show. In the past few years (I watch them in chunks
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Creation Entertainment's Salute to Supernatural, the Supernatural Official Convention just took place August 21-23rd at the Minneapolis Convention Center... I believe this was the first Supernatural Minneapolis show, and it felt extra-special as the show is currently celebrating its 10th Anniversary. Prices started at the cheapest $70 for single general admission to "Gold Level" $859 per ticket... and all the Gold, Silver, and Copper tickets were sold out, proving that there were insatiable fans in the Minneapolis area. Both Gold & Silver got "complimentary in-person autographs", while the Copper ($200) only got entrance to the Saturday night concert featuring Louden Swain.

Vendors Area

The vendors area was a small, modest room with about 20 dealers selling mostly Supernatural official merchandise. I didn't peek in during the panels, but I think it would have been pretty empty as all the fans were sitting in the theatre. The good news is that after the show, everyone flooded into the tiny vendors room.

Misha Collins, who plays Castiel on the hit CW series, did not appear on stage on Saturday or Sunday, because he was beaten up and mugged after leaving a restaurant in Minneapolis on Friday evening.

Sunday's main event started at 2pm with a Castiel fan-made music video, played to cheering crowd, showing much love for the recovering actor. Shortly after the video, Louden Swain (featuring singer/guitarist Rob Benedict, bassist Michael Borja, guitarist Billy Moran, and drummer Stephen Norton) came on stage to play a cover of Prince's "Let's Go Crazy". You may know Benedict played prophet turned writer Chuck Shurley on the Supernatural show.

Richard Speight, Jr.

"The Trickster" Richard Speight, Jr. came on stage shortly after the song and basically emceed the event. Speight, Jr., would sometime tell these Supernatural conventions and would bring up the "brown or gray" story from a fan interaction with Benedict (which I'm still a little confused why that was funny). He also laid down some house rules about filming and taking pictures: they want us to take as many pictures as possible .... EXCEPT, ironically, when they are in the photo area.

Completely comfortable on stage, I thought Speight, Jr., was a natural MC. It felt like he's been doing this type of event hosting for a long time now.

Twenty minutes later, Louden Swain started to play something called "Sweet Imagination", based on Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion"... then medley into Roy Orbison's "Oh Pretty Woman" as an introduction song to 'opening band' Alaina Huffman (Abaddon).

Alaina Huffman with Louden Swain

Huffman's 40-min Q&A session featured some fan questions like her favorite episode ("Mother's Little Helper") to one world to describe Supernatural fans ("passionate"). Highlight of her session was a little 5-year-old boy dressed in the Flash costume asking her how she liked "working with these guys". That got lots of laughs and Huffman said lovely and hugged the boy before he left the front.

Of course, the main attraction, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki (Sam and Dean Winchester) got the loudest cheer when they entered the stage. The questions started with a fan asking to have the actors ask each other questions. Padalecki asked which season was Dean's favorite Sam haircut, and Ackles, in turn, asked Padalecki which season was Sam's favorite Dean haircut.

The best part was hearing Padalecki talked about a fight choreography that went wrong. The guest star was supposed to do two punches and a knee kick, but when 'action' was called, the actor forgotten the punches and went for the knee. Padalecki, who was expecting a punch in the face, moved his head back and his waist thrust towards the fighter in anticipation to the fist... instead, getting a knee straight to the groin.

My favorite Ackles moment (who actually had bad memories when it came to specific seasons, which you can't blame the guy) was on a recent filming of a three-man fight sequence in the back of his car. He improvised his best Clint Eastwood impression by saying, "Get out of my car." Ackles hoped that they use that one line for the yet-to-be aired episode, but he wasn't sure since they recorded four different lines.

A good question about voice acting was asked, which had two very different answers from Ackles and Padalecki. Ackles, in his Jason Todd (Robin) role, had a director asking him to read lines (in different tones). He read the entire script without ever meeting any other actors and had no idea of how the story would unfold. Padalecki, on the other hand, came on Supernatural: The Animation with pre-existing animation, so his primary goal was to match his words with the animated mouth movement.

Some fans didn't even have questions when they came to the front of the microphone. Some cried, some could barely get a word out, some only commented about how they were friendly stalking Padalecki's recent boating pictures ("we haven't released the nude pictures yet"), some just thanked the actors for their anti-bullying campaign. I personally felt these type of comments do not belong to a Q&A, and perhaps they can save it when they got personal time and/or autographs from the actors.

You can tell watching the two on stage that they had great chemistry, which was one of the reasons why Supernatural ran for over ten years. Seeing these guys live, it made me excited about watching Supernatural again.

Sunday, 15 February 2015

In the latest Constantine episode, it's all about Manny the Angel and Zed. This was a pretty standard monster of the week episode.
If you've seen the episode, click below
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The Constantine finale is partly an adaptation of Hellblazer #4. It's not a great finale, especially because it doesn't wrap up all the setup from the pilot. This is probably because of two things: they lost the lead actress from the pilot, and also in the middle of production, the series was unexpectedly cut short for only 13 episodes. I think by that point, pre-production and stories were already written that they couldn't re-write the finale to everybody's expectations.

I got the feeling that the producers knew the show was cancelled in 2014 when the producers were calling for the #saveconstantine hashtags. We have not heard of a renewal for a second season, and the showrunners probably said, f*** it and steadily defying NBC's stance on "no smoking" for Constantine. I noted this when I started seeing more cigarettes on screen - starting with Episode 11 - but it may be too little too late.

There is hope however, people are saying that the show may be picked up on the SyFy network as Hellblazer (* Thanks to Hatori Sohma for dispelling this rumor) and will allow on screen smoking and drinking... but until they officially announce it - I do not think Constantine television show will survive. Which is really a shame because, despite my complaints about the super villains, I still looked forward to seeing John Constantine on TV every week.

Despite the passionate (and sometime vocal) fanbase for Constantine, I have a sinking feeling that this is the final episode we will ever see. What we did get from NBC was actually pretty good, all things considering. I'll be the first in line to buy the Bluray when they release it.

If you've seen the episode, click below to read the recap and how the television show compares to the original Vertigo Hellblazer comic books.